The Soyfoods Council offers recipe and snack ideas for summertime easy living. And while snacks and meals made with soyfoods are simple, they also make good nutrition sense because soy is a complete plant protein
Get a fresh start on warm weather menus with soyfoods that fit into your active lifestyle. One serving of soy offers approximately 7 to 15 grams of high-quality protein without the large amount of saturated fat that typically comes with animal sources of protein. Choose from foods such as 1/2 cup of tofu or shelled edamame, a cup of soymilk, or ¼ cup of soynuts.

Edamame in the pod is a convenient take-along snack for road trips, picnics or days at the beach. Add shelled edamame to summery salads. To make a simple edamame salad that complements quesadillas, for example, combine frozen sweet corn, frozen shelled edamame, diced red onion, diced Roma tomatoes, peeled and diced cucumber, and minced garlic. Toss with a dressing of red wine vinegar, soybean oil, salt and black pepper.

Soymilk starts the morning or gives an energy boost on busy days. For breakfast, make a Strawberry-Kiwi Smoothie by combining 1 cup of soymilk, 1 cup frozen strawberries and 1 peeled kiwi in a blender. For a refreshing afternoon snack, enjoy an iced latte made with espresso and vanilla soymilk.

Soynuts are another portable snack, either alone or incorporated into a trail mix. To make your own simple soynut snack mix, combine salted soynuts with dried fruits and dry cereal--or for a more elaborate version, add raisins, candy-coated chocolate pieces and mini pretzels.

The Soyfoods Council is a non-profit organization, created and funded by Iowa soybean farmers, providing a complete resource to increase awareness of soyfoods, educate and inform media, healthcare professionals, consumers and the retail and foodservice market about the many benefits of soyfoods. Iowa is the country's number one grower of soybeans and is the Soyfoods Capital of the world.

Soyfoods have played an important role in Asian cuisines for centuries. In recent years they have become popular in Western countries because of their nutrition and health properties. Soyfoods are excellent sources of high-quality protein and provide a healthy mix of polyunsaturated fat. In addition, independent of their nutrient content, there is very intriguing evidence indicating soyfoods reduce risk of several chronic diseases including coronary heart disease, osteoporosis and certain forms of cancer. All individuals are well advised to eat a couple of servings of soyfoods every day.